Hard work puts Miller in line for expanded role on Syracuse University lacrosse team

Dick Blume / The Post-StandardSyracuse University midfielder Jovan Miller should see more action at the offensive end of the field this season.

Syracuse, NY -- If work ethic alone could guarantee greatness, Jovan Miller would be the next superstar on the Syracuse University men’s lacrosse team.

"There were people who saw Jovan last year after some of our games out on a high school field shooting on a goal," SU head coach John Desko said recently. "I’m talking about after one of our games. He’s one who works very hard on his own. He’s constantly trying to improve his game."

On and off the field.

"As far as the strength and conditioning, he’s always there," Desko said. "Over the break when a lot of the guys went home he was seen in the weight room lifting and out here running on the track."

The dedication should earn Miller (6-foot, 202 pounds), a junior out of CBA, a slot on one of the Orange’s top two midfield lines this season, which commences on Feb. 19 vs. Denver in the Carrier Dome. It was with that purpose in mind that he embarked on a regimen that has coaches and teammates alike nodding in Miller’s direction when asked who is going to fill the void left by the departure following last season of five of the team’s top six offensive middies.

"I think when you want something so bad, that’s the thing that pushes you," Miller said. "I just knew this was going to be the year I was going to have to step up and everything. I think my ambition was the biggest thing that pushed me."

Ambition to be more than a defensive specialist, a role Miller played to perfection in helping Syracuse win consecutive national championships in 2008-09. Desko was confident enough in the player’s ability to allow him to push the ball toward the net in transition when he saw an opening – chances that produced six goals and six assists over the last two seasons while playing in 35 of the team’s 36 games – but not enough to give him a shot in SU’s set offense. That has changed this season.

"He had just about everything," Desko said. "It was more learning the offensive plays and schemes and his shooting. This year I think he is shooting the ball much better. He’s had more reps at the offensive end of the field, so he understands the offense better, and he’s a very good athlete.

"He’s tough, he’s strong and he wants it. He’s going to want the ball in his stick in important situations."

Miller’s credentials as an athlete were never in doubt. For a while during his days at CBA it was believed he would attend SU to play football as a tailback or defensive back. A mixup left him on the outside looking in, and he followed the lacrosse avenue up the Hill. For two seasons he excelled in the most unsung and yet most important position in lacrosse these days – short-stick defensive midfielder. He said the time was well spent.

"I’ve learned overall to be a really good team player," Miller said. "I think it’s made me a complete player. More than anything, it showed me how to make sacrifices for the team. It’s not about me."

It will be this season. At least a good deal of the time.

"I think he’s an extremely dedicated player," Desko said, "and I think he’s had two years of good game experience. This year we’re asking him to step up and play more of an offensive role. Yet, I think of all our midfielders, in a tight defensive situation you’re going to see him out there (playing defense), too. He’s going to play an awful lot of lacrosse for us."

"He’s been working his tail off," fellow middie Josh Amidon said. "I see him working on the middie plays on offense, and he still hasn’t lost anything on defense. I don’t think he ever will. He’s very athletic. He’s going to help us out a lot."

Amidon said Miller, who was already one of the best athletes on the team when he arrived two years ago, has taken his talent to a new level this season.

"I think he’s more explosive," Amidon said. "He’s faster. And I think he’s just mentally prepared for this season."

The combination has SU insiders believing Miller is ready to pick up where Matt Abbott, one of the game’s best two-way midfielders, left off last season.

"I love Matt to death, but I’m not trying to be Matt Abbott," Miller said. "I’m trying to be Jovan Miller. But yeah, all the dimensions of his game, you’ll see a lot of that."